Alongside Mundo Real’s goal for a Community Based Research Center – we intend to hold computer training and information classes where children and adults will learn essential skills such as Internet research, creating word and excel documents, writing resumes, and basic computer skills. The objective is to give residents an understanding of the power of the computer and Internet access in order to provide them with skills needed for professional development, as well as access to information previously unavailable to them. Children and adolescents will learn how to use the Internet to expand their understanding of web browsing, research educational opportunities, and learn local and world facts, other than using it for msn messenger and other social network sites, which many children only know how to utilize and believe that the internet was created for these purposes.

Public Health Services and Government Benefits Advocacy

Mundo Real provides advocacy services for special needs individuals that increases their access to Public Health Services and to Government Benefits in two ways: directly and indirectly. Directly, we work with the same volunteer community residents mentioned above to organize community meetings and perform home visits that inform special needs residents about existing free public health services and about the criteria for accessing these services; for example, required forms of identification, medical history records, scheduling, etc. We also organize the provision of donated transportation services and accompany special needs cases on medical visits and other related appointments. We perform similar direct advocacy services that inform special needs residents about the existence of government benefits programs for the poor or disabled and the criteria and processes/steps involved in applying for these benefits. Indirectly, Mundo Real provides these same advocacy services by training and educating community residents to perform them. To date, Mundo Real has trained 5 community residents who utilize the knowledge they have acquired to work as volunteers with Mundo Real’s current project in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Projeto Primeiros Passos. Mundo Real’s current staff, working primarily with this team of five trained volunteers, has provided public health services and government benefits advocacy services to over 125 individuals with special needs in Rio de Janeiro.